I just wanted to know, how do you organize your machine needles? Do you keep them in a drawer somewhere or do you have an organizer for them?

I want to collect everyone's ideas before I make something for my mom and myself. We both take our machines to different places, so keeping our needles in a drawer isn't an option. We have those rolling sewing machine totes, but I'd like to have something else for the needles that I can put into the tote.

Any links or pictures much appreciated!

« Last Edit: January 24, 2010 08:39:03 PM by jungrrl - Reason: made title more descriptive »

I would suggest either buying or making something like a small pencil case to keep your machine needles in (as well as a few other small accessories for your machine while you are on the go) That way everything would be in one area and it would be easier to find in your tote Mine are kept in a small plastic organizer that has little sections for different things.. something like that would work too...

I keep mine in my sewing machine! The little bit I have to take off to access my bobbin has a drawer, so I keep my needles in there. They're very unorganized in there though! If they're not in the original packaging, they're just floating around the bottom.

The Schmetz cases fit inside the boxes perfectly. I have the columns marked with the types of needles across the top boxes (Universal, Sharp, Embroidery, Metallic, etc), and I store them by size under each category (70s, 80s, 90s, etc). This way I can see immediate whether I'm running low on a particular type and size of needle.

Since the cases is two-sided, I can also keep spools of thread on the other side.

You know I just read about needle books yesterday. I came across the pattern in two different sewing books! Apparently it's a little book (easy to make yourself) with "pages" made of felt that you can attach your needles to like pins. It's handy if you label each page like with tags or embroidery or stamps that say "denim" or "size 14 universal" to keep them organized. Obviously not as professional as a case but it's an easy handmade project, and I bet it would make a good gift for a fellow sewer.

I have tons of needles of all sorts, so I ended making a felt needle book and keep them all there. I have some sections for machine needles, some for tapestry needles, some for sewing needles and on the inside of the covers I stuck my very fine crochet hook that I use to repair snags in knits and the elastic guiding tool. Specialty needles are together in one page, named, and on the tapestry needles pages I wrote the number of each group next to it. It's one of my favourite notions. If I could keep the spools the same way, I would!

I used to keep my machine needles in a pencil case, but whenever there was a sale on them, I could never remember what needles I needed to buy. This case folds in thirds and the first two thirds have clear sleeves where the plastic needle cases fit exactly in. The bottom third has holes for needles that have been used, and it's labeled so you know exactly what needle is in each hole.